14th International AIDS Conference Barcelona, Spain - July 7-12, 2002

Int Conf AIDS 2002 Jul 7-12; 14:(abstract no. C10667)

Weatherburn P, Anderson W
Sigma Research, London, United Kingdom

BACKGROUND: Despite the importance attached to the needs of people with HIV in defining policy, there is no consensus about how such needs should be identified and measured. This UK-wide study gives priority to individual understandings of need, describing them in a way that respects the subjectivity of people's lives.

METHODS: A self-complete questionnaire was disseminated through 202 service providers throughout the UK, achieving a purposive sample of 1821, or 9% of the UK population of people living with HIV. The questionnaire was based on a qualitative study that defined 19 categories of personal need. For each category, questions addressed experience of problems, feelings about personal state and capacity to benefit from further support.

RESULTS: The most frequently reported problems related to anxiety and depression (66%), sleep (59%), sex (51%), self-confidence (47%), relationships (43%) and eating/appetite (42%). Among those on anti-HIV therapy, 32% reported problems taking treatments and 27% reported problems dealing with health professionals, whereas problems with knowledge of HIV treatments were reported by only 5%. These problem indicators are only half the story. Some respondents were happy with their current state despite reporting a problem, suggesting an acceptance of the problem and / or satisfactory management of it. Alternatively, some respondents were unhappy with their current state but did not report a problem, indicating the importance of goals, as well 1as problems, in defining needs.

CONCLUSIONS: Needs are complex and dynamic. They are shaped by immediate circumstances and resources, but also depend on individual perceptions of the value and possibilities of life. If the perceived possibilities of life increase, so may personal needs. The relationship of illness and treatments to needs is therefore far from straightforward.

020707
C10667

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